Safeguarding Appalshop Archive Collections

FAIN: PG-258461-18

Appalshop, Inc. (Whitesburg, KY 41858-0743)
Caroline Rubens (Project Director: May 2017 to December 2021)

The purchase of storage furniture and preservation supplies to rehouse a collection of more than 1.8 million feet of 16mm film footage; approximately 1,600 photographic images; and 300 boxes of archival materials and mixed media.  The collection focuses on the history and culture of eastern Kentucky and western North Carolina and documents a wide range of topics, including daily life, coal mining, and the musical traditions of Appalachia.

Appalshop Archive is requesting funds to support improvement of our long-term storage for audiovisual, photographs, and paper records documenting central Appalachian history, culture and social issues, as well as the institution’s 48-year history. Targeted collections are: The Appalshop Films Collection and The June Appal Recordings Collection which contain first-voice documentation of the region and Appalachian musical recordings; The Robert Gumpert-Harlan County Photograph Collection documenting the Harlan County strike of 1973-74; The Kristen Mendenhall Photograph Collection of photographs of rural artisans, activists and residents in rural eastern KY and NC in the early 1970s; and The Mountain Eagle/Tom and Pat Gish Archives Collection, which contains materials on poverty, housing, education, drug abuse, and other issues affecting eastern KY.